Remington 742 disassembly help!

I have a Remington 742 in 30-06. This gun has been ultra-reliable for me until a few weeks back. I fired my first shot (180gr soft point factory Remington ammo, about 10-15 years old) and the ejector claw stripped off the brass, leaving the fired round stuck in the chamber.

After beating it out with a cleaning rod, I fired it three times in a single-shot fashion with newer Remington 150gr Core-Lokt ammo, with it failing to eject one out of three. Each piece of brass had damage where the ejector claw contacted it.

Considering this has never happened to me before, I figure the rifle is due for a good cleaning...which I had never done. After a couple hours of fighting, I got the trigger group out and barrel off with an adjustable wrench...but I'm lost on how to get the bolt assembly out. I really need to get it out and clean the entire receiver; it is gummed up beyond belief.

I've done an extensive search of THR and Google and haven't found any instructions...any help or advice is much appreciated!

So, the entering argument for this problem is the receiver upside down, sans barrel and trigger group.

If you look at the bolt handle from beneath, you will see a small pin securing it to the bolt body. Using an appropriately sized brass punch, drive the pin out, bottom to top, (the pin is tapered and will only go in one way, top to bottom, remember this there will be a quiz) the bolt handle should then pull out via the ejection port and allow the plastic port cover and bolt to come out.

The keys are the bolt handle pin, the barrel nut, and careful realignment of the gas tube. Damage to the tube will affect the operation of your weapon.

When my rifle exhibited this same problem, I figured out that the 742 liked a clean chamber.

BoilerUP

June 19, 2008, 11:24 PM

zinj, THANK YOU!

Google evidently failed me...

BigCompetator

June 20, 2008, 01:43 AM

my suggestion is go to www.remington.com and get one of there free owners manuals. they have diagrams and instructions on assembly and disassembly.

GunDoctor

June 20, 2008, 01:54 AM

Now that you have it apart you need to polish the chamber befor you reasemble it. Get a piece of a wood dowl about 5in long and cut a slit down the center of one end. Get a piece of 400gt sandpaper about 2in wide and long enough to rap around the dowl a couple times. Put the other end of the dowl in a hand drill and let her rip once its in the chamber. Just remember, you want to stay away from the shoulder. This and a good cleaning will solve your failure to extract issue.